


For Destruction, Ice is Also Great

by sparkly_bethany



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, One-sided Aang/Katara (Avatar), Romance, War, Zutara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:01:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25053565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkly_bethany/pseuds/sparkly_bethany
Summary: Kya was gone. It was all Katara’s fault. Hakoda was sending her away; but Katara had a plan.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Hakoda & Katara (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Iroh (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong/Sokka
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36
Collections: Avatar: The Last Airbender





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all! With Avatar coming to Netflix and it basically reemerging back into popularity, I've decided to take my love for it into my own hands and write a fanfiction. It will be a Zutara fic. I will say that I changed the characters a little bit, so they won't be exactly like they are in the cartoon, but for the most part they will be.
> 
> Hope you enjoy

“Daddy, I don’t want to go,” Katara said, looking up at Hakoda with tears in her eyes. Her eyes flicked over to where her brother, Sokka, was standing. He didn’t meet her gaze.

“You should have thought about that before you ruined everything,” her father said, coldly, glaring daggers at the small eight year old girl. “It’s illegal for us to hide a bender, anyway. I won’t go to prison for you.”

The tears started to fall, and Katara glanced back at her brother. “Sokka, please,” she cried, but once again, she was ignored. 

She didn’t mean to hurt anyone. She and Sokka were just playing. He had his boomerang and she had her bending. Their mother, Kya had been watching them carefully. 

Everything had happened so fast. It was all a blur to Katara. Black soot. Fire Nation ships. Sokka’s boomerang. A pain in her side. Anger. A huge, unnatural wave. Shouting. Another wave. More shouting. 

And then the unthinkable happened. “Who did that?!” 

“That little girl!”

Fear. So much fear. And then hands had grabbed her. More fear than Katara has ever felt.

“No.” Her mother’s voice. Relief. Katara loved her mother’s soothing voice. She loved her mother. “It was me.” 

Shock. Her mother wasn’t a bender. Adult benders nowadays were to be executed. They were not trained to fight for the Fire Nation. 

Katara didn’t remember anything after that. She remembered hearing screaming; whether it was hers or not, she didn’t know. She was pushed roughly to the snow. Her mother’s body fell. Blood. More screaming. Sokka yelling for their father’s help. But it was too late. 

Kya was gone. And it was entirely Katara’s fault. 

Hakoda was sending Katara to the Fire Nation Bending School. Sokka was letting him. 

The Fire Nation killed her mother. Now she had to learn to fight alongside them. 

* * *

Katara bolted awake. Her room was dark, not yet morning. It had been nine years since she lost her mother. Nine years that she pretended to be a loyal student to the Fire Nation. But she had a secret. A small group of benders; a rebellion. They were going to find the Avatar and take down Fire Lord Ozai. No matter what it took.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara shows a new fire bending student around school. His name is Kuzon and Katara thinks he doesn't seem like a fire bender.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say that this story will be a tad bit more modern than the cargoon. So if you see something you didn't see in A:TLA that's why! Ex: Katara looks at a watch in this chapter.

The Fire Nation bending school was established for young benders of the three nations (Air Nomads had been killed by the Fire Nation long ago) to come together to be trained for the Fire Nation army. Soldiers would kidnap children from their homes and force them to attend. In the case of all the fire bending students, and Katara, their parents willingly sent them. It was established to make the Fire Nation stronger. After all, three elements together were stronger than one. The war had been going on for a little over a hundred years now, but the Fire Nation had still failed to conquer the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe. Although the Southern Water Tribe wasn’t thriving like their sister tribe, they weren’t completely under Fire Nation control. Yet.

Fire Lord Azulon established the school in hopes of turning benders against their nation, forcing them to fight alongside him in his quest to conquer the world. If his students showed any sign of rebellion, they would be killed for treason. Most adult benders were dead now, unless they’d proved to the Fire Lord they’d mastered their element and sworn their allegiance to him. Those benders worked under Azulon, now Ozai, to help his students master their bending. After all, he couldn’t have amateur benders when he takes control of Omashu, could he?

Surprisingly, most students, Fire Nation or not, were as loyal as they could be to Ozai. To consumed by fear to ever defy the Fire Lord. Fortunately for Katara, she wasn’t afraid of anything. She couldn’t wait for the day she got out of this damn school, found the Avatar and took the tyrannical man down. With the help of her friends, they should defeat Ozai in no time. But for now, she had to suffer through with her schooling.

Katara’s schedule went something like this.

Monday-Friday

6:00am: Wake up

6:15am: Try to wake Toph up

6:30am: Get yelled at by Toph

6:45am: Successfully get Toph out of bed

7:00am: Shower

7:15am: Breakfast

8:00am: History 

9:00am: Science

10:00am: Water bending training/healing

11:00am: Lunch

12:00pm: Language 

1:00pm: Hand to hand combat training

2:00pm: Music

3:00pm: Math

4:00pm: Whatever she wanted to do until

10:00pm: Curfew

Saturday and Sunday students were free to do whatever they pleased, and Katara took that to her full advantage. She only had one thing planned every Saturday, 3:00pm. And that was the weekly meeting that she and her friends held to come up with ways they could find the Avatar, recruit more benders, and take down the Fire Lord.

Katara had no idea why the Fire Lord felt that the students needed to learn things such as science, language, music and math. History made some sense, so she couldn’t really complain about that. But what did science and math have to do with being a soldier? Music? It’s not like she would have time to pull out a tsunji horn while in battle, on the Fire Nation’s side or not. She guessed Ozai simply didn’t want uneducated soldiers on the front lines.

Katara knew better to complain, though (out loud, at least). So, on Friday at 3:47pm, she sat in the back of the class with two of her friends, Toph and Haru, biting her nails as Mr. Aiko was passing out something the students were to complete over the weekend. Mr. Aiko reached the back, handed a paper to Haru, and two to Katara. She muttered a thanks before turning around to hand the sheet to Toph who rolled her milky eyes. 

“You know you’re gonna end up with that paper again,” she grumbled, “so I don’t know why you always try to hand me things I can’t read.”

Since Katara was Toph’s roommate, it had become her unofficial job to help Toph. She would read the questions to her, and they’d figure out the answers together before Katara scribbled it down on both of their sheets. It’s not that Katara minded, she just wished Toph would be a little more grateful for her help. But Toph was about as independent as someone could be, trying her hardest to not let her blindness define or weaken her.

Not that you could tell Toph was blind. The first time Katara saw the small girl earth bender, it left her breathless. You’d think she was already a master at the age of fifteen. Toph could sense an attack from a mile away, there was no sneaking up on her. She knew exactly what was being thrown at her at all times. The way Toph walked around was the thing that threw most people off. She knew exactly where she going; she knew when to twist, when to turn, when to take a step to the left or to the right to avoid stubbing her toe. She made her way through the twisty hallways of school better than people with eyes.

“You’re right,” Katara said, turning back around so she could stuff the papers into her pack.

Katara glanced at Haru, who was already bent over his paper, scribbling furiously. Katara let out a light laugh. His eyes snapped up to meet hers. “What? If I start now, I have less to do later.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Toph joked, taking the words right out of Katara’s mouth. Haru rolled his eyes and bent back down to his paper.

Haru was a sweet guy, and he was a decent earth bender. Katara thought he was too apprehensive about his bending to be as powerful as he could be, though. She suspected it was because the Fire Nation had killed his father for bending. Just like Katara, Haru’s mother tried to hide him for as long as possible. But unlike Katara, an old man had turned Haru in when he’d saved him from falling rocks. Haru wasn’t betrayed by his own blood.

“She didn’t show signs of being a bender until recently,” Hakoda had said to the soldier in red. “We weren’t sure until now.”

Katara scowled at the memory. What kind of father did that to his little girl? His only daughter? Part of her hated him for it, but the other part, a slightly bigger part, wanted to run home after she takes down the Fire Nation to beg for his forgiveness. She’d dreamed about it multiple times. Ozai would die at her hands after the Avatar weakened him. She would send ice daggers straight through his heart so he would know the feeling she felt when she saw her mother fall. She would return to the South Pole, get on her knees and tell her father she avenged Kya’s death and that the war was over. Hakoda would pick her up and pull her against him and apologize for ever sending her away. He would tell her he loved her and they would never be apart again.

There were, of course, nightmares, too, where when she returned home, her father scowled her for fighting fire with fire. He told her he hated her, that she was a cold blooded killer, and banished her permanently from her home.

A bell sounded, breaking Katara from her thoughts. She stood up, grabbed her things and waited as Toph and Haru did the same. As they headed out together, like they always did, a hand on Katara’s back stopped her. 

“Miss Katara,” Mr. Aiko said. Katara’s friends stopped as well, looking back at her with worried eyes. “Miss Bei Fong, Mr. Haru, you may go. Katara is in good hands.” He smiled at them, and they reluctantly headed out. 

“See you later, Sugar Queen.”

Katara rolled her eyes at the nickname before looking up at her teacher, “Yes, sir?”

“I need a favor from you,” he explained. “We have a new student, Kuzon, and General Iroh doesn’t have time today to show him around. Family emergency. Anyway, he asked me to ask you if you would be kind enough to do so.”

“I think I can manage that,” Katara replied. General Iroh was second in command at the school, as well as Katara’s music teacher. He took care of everything because Ozai couldn’t be bothered to even show his face there. He was a sweet old man, who loved tea and Pai Sho. Katara didn’t want to brag but she was his favorite student. He’d taken a personal liking to Katara the moment he’d met her. Occasionally, they’d have tea together, and Iroh would tell Katara about his late son, Lu Ten, and his nephew, Zuko. 

“Perfect, follow me.”

Katara followed Mr. Aiko through the hallways, to the front of the school where General Iroh’s office was. The door was opened and Mr. Aiko pushed Katara in. He bowed, “Thank you, Miss Katara.” Then he wondered back down the hall. 

Katara turned and was greeted with Iroh’s beaming smile, “I knew I could count on you, Miss Katara!” 

Katara smiled back at him, “Anything for you, General.”

Iroh shook his head, but the smiled remained. “I’ve told you time and time again, you can call me Uncle! Anyway,” Iroh gestured to a boy Katara hadn’t noticed before, “This is Kuzon. I have some family matters to attend to. I am extremely grateful for your help, Miss Katara.”

Katara looked at the boy, Kuzon, and offered him a smile. He was wearing a red tunic, red pants and a red headband with the Fire Nation symbol wrapped around his forehead. He had short black hair and big gray eyes.

“This is Miss Katara,” Iroh told Kuzon. “She is a young water bender, she will be showing you around. I apologize again for not being able to do so.” Iroh bowed to him, and turned to bow to Katara as well. “I hope to see you tomorrow for tea, Miss Katara.”

Katara smiled at Iroh and turned her attention to Kuzon, who met her gaze immediately. He smiled back, a wide, toothy grin. “I really appreciate this, Katara.”

“My pleasure,” Katara replied.

Iroh ushered them out of the room, shut and locked the door behind him. He patted Kuzon on the back before reminding Katara about tea tomorrow, again. “12:00, Miss Katara!” And with that, the chubby, old general made his way down the hall.

“So,” Katara turned to Kuzon, “do you have your class schedule? It’d be easier to start there, I can show you where your classes are and how to get to each one.” 

He smiled, nodding. He reached into the pocket of his pants and handed her a folded paper. When she unfolded it, she noticed something and grimaced. “You’re a fire bender?” 

Katara really tried not to be biased against fire benders. She really did. She even needed to recruit some fire benders to join her team of rebels. Though, she couldn’t help but think the whole reason she was in this mess was because of fire benders. 

“I am, I’m not very good, though,” Kuzon replied sheepishly. Katara clenched her jaw. It had taken her years to warm up to General Iroh and he was the sweetest person she’s ever met. But he was living proof that not all fire benders are awful people. As if reading her thoughts, Kuzon said, “I’m not like them, I promise.”

Katara offered him a small smile and tried to relax. She could give him a chance. “Alright,” Katara pointed down the hall, “your first class is that way.” Kuzon smiled and walked ahead of her. Katara could’ve swore she saw a blue stripe on the back of his neck but she brushed it off. That would be crazy. Katara caught up with him so she could lead the way. She was showing him around, after all. 

She glanced over at him. Kuzon didn’t walk like a fire bender. Most fire benders walked with a sense of purpose, stomping their feet as they went; they walked like they were better than everyone else. Kuzon was light on his feet, almost as if he was gliding. Katara brushed that off, too, though. What did it matter if Kuzon walked funny and had tattoos?

-

After about an hour or two Katara had showed Kuzon where his classes were, the best routes to take to get to and from his classes, the training field, the tournament field, the swimming pool and the cafeteria, where Katara ended the tour. There were quite a few students already eating their dinner. 

They didn’t talk much, which only added to the uneasiness Katara felt. She ran Kuzon through some of the rules: no bending anywhere except the training and tournament fields, no boys in girl dorms, no girls in boy dorms, do not disrespect any authority figures and of course, remain loyal to the Fire Nation.

Katara checked her watch, it was 7:04pm. She glanced around the cafeteria and spotted Haru sitting by himself. He was hunched over the table, doing homework, no doubt. 

“Here,” Katara said, “come with me.” She made her way to Haru, Kuzon following close behind. “Hey.” Haru glanced up, his eyes flicked to Kuzon and then back to Katara. “This is Kuzon. Kuzon, this is Haru. He’s one of my best friends.” 

They both muttered out a simple hello and Katara asked Haru is Toph had eaten yet.

“No,” Haru replied. “But I think she’s gonna be down here soon.”

“Alright.” Katara smiled, sitting down. Kuzon remained standing. “Would you mind showing Kuzon where the boy dormitories are? I don’t think General Iroh thought about that when he asked me to show Kuzon around.”

“Anything for you, Katara.” Haru smiled at her, then turned his attention to Kuzon. “Hey—“

Whatever Haru was about to say to Kuzon was interrupted when Toph plopped down next to Katara and immediately launched into a story, “I just swindled some fire bender out of some gold pieces. See, he was trying to trick people with that game where you hide a rock under three cups and switch them around. You have to guess which cup the rock is in. Anyway, he was trying to push the rock off the table while switching around the cups. He thought I wouldn’t notice but— you can sit down, you know?— I could feel what he was doing with my earth bending. So, with a simple flick of my wrist, I beat him at his own game! I only wish I could’ve seen the look on his face!” Toph let out a loud laugh, it rang through the cafeteria and caused a few people to glance in their direction. “Why haven’t you sat down yet?” Toph looked at Kuzon. “Who are you? I’m Toph.”

Kuzon offered a shy smile; he was nervous, Katara noticed. He slowly took a seat on the other side of Katara. “I’m Kuzon.” 

“Cool, Kuzon.” Toph grinned. “Let me ask you this: how do you feel about our wonderful Fire Lord Ozai?”

Katara gasped but she wasn’t sure why. Toph was always straight to the point, and at least she didn’t mentioned their group of rebels. Katara had made it clear to not let newcomers in until they knew they could trust them not to rat anyone out. At one point, Katara had even said don’t let anyone in until you could trust them with your life but everyone called her dramatic. Katara didn’t think she was, she thought she was being safe. 

“I, uh...” Kuzon glanced around, possibly taking note of the nearest guard and cameras, considering if he would be heard or not. “I don’t agree with the guy. This war is getting out of hand.” His jaw was set tight and Katara didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not, she wasn’t Toph, after all. But when Katara’s eyes flicked to her friend, Toph’s smile didn’t falter. That was a good sign. 

“Cool, cool.” Toph grabbed onto Katara’s arm and pulled her up. “We’re getting dinner, want anything?” Haru shook his head, saying he already ate. “Kuzon?”

“Maybe some rice?” Kuzon said, although it sounded like a question. “Fruit or vegetables, nuts, if there is any. I don’t eat meat.” 

“Weird.” But Toph nodded then proceeded to drag Katara to grab some food. 

“Was he lying?” Katara didn’t need to explain what she was asking about, Toph would know she meant about Kuzon’s feelings towards Ozai and the war. 

“Nope.”

“He’s a fire bender,” Katara mentioned. 

“There’s something off about him,” Toph replied. Katara couldn’t agree more. What kind of fire bender walked like Kuzon did? Was as nervous as Kuzon seemed? Didn’t eat meat? “But I have a feeling we should trust him.”

“Right.” Katara didn’t know how to feel about that but she trusted Toph’s judgement more than anyone’s. The blind girl was, by far, the best judge of character Katara knew. Toph was lucky for that. “Think he’ll wanna... be our friend?” Katara couldn’t say “join us” with a guard staring right at them, could she?

“Only time will tell, Sugar Queen.”

* * *

Once everyone ate, they all got up to head out of the cafeteria. They walked together down a couple of hallways before they had to separate to their dorms. 

“You’re real light on your feet,” Toph told Kuzon. “I think I’ll call you Twinkle Toes.”

Kuzon blushed but before he could reply, Toph stalked off down the hallway leading to the girl dormitories. 

Katara smiled at both of the boys, “I’ll see you tomorrow at three, Haru,” she said. “Thanks, again for showing Kuzon the way to the dorms.”

“Bye, Katara.” Haru smiled, patted Kuzon on the back at and lead him down the hallway leading to the boy dormitories. Katara waved, even though neither boy could see her, before turning to catch up with Toph. 

If Toph can trust him,  Katara thought,  I can at least give him a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left a kudos and to the people who left a comment. I appreciate you! Please let me know what you all think.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara has tea with Iroh. She then meets with her friends and Kuzon to come up with ways to recruit more fire benders.

Tea with General Iroh was always... interesting, to say the least. The old general filled Katara’s head with weird proverbs that she would never understand. Katara suspected the old guy was simply losing his mind. Iroh was a good man; an old soul that cared for everyone he met and just really loved tea. He had told Katara countless times it was his dream to open a tea shop, somewhere, anywhere. He would call it the Jasmine Dragon. Unfortunately for Iroh, he was under Ozai’s control, forced to work at the school. For the old general’s sake, Katara hoped she could play her part in ending the war so he could get his tea shop one day. Maybe she could visit the shop if she survived the final fight.

Katara had been worried about Iroh, wondered what family issue had come up. She knew is was probably none of her business but still, her and Iroh had become quite close and she held the old man close to her heart. She was allowed to worry, wasn’t she? Family emergencies were never good. What if someone Iroh cared about and loved had gotten hurt? Died? The thought broke Katara’s heart.

Just a few months ago, Iroh had opened up to her about his son. He told her about the time he’d tried to conquer Ba Sing Se, while his father, Azulon, was still Fire Lord. Iroh’s son, Lu Ten, had fallen in battle. His only son. It had been so traumatic that Iroh had abandoned the siege. Iroh had sung Katara a song that day about a soldier marching home. He’d called it _Leaves from the Vine._ Iroh didn’t cry that day, not really. He only shed a few tears. Even though it happened years ago, Iroh had talked about it like it’d happened yesterday.

Katara knew what it was like to lose a parent, knew what it was like to lose a mother. So far in her life, it was the worst pain she’s ever felt. An earth bender could encase her in stone and crush her, a fire bender could burn her alive, a fellow water bender could drown her but nothing could compare to the pain that she had felt that day. Someone had reached inside her chest, ripped out her heart and tore it to pieces. They’d then shoved the broken heart back into her chest and cursed her to live with it forever. And no one could mend it, not the best healer in the world. A day didn’t go by where Katara didn’t think about Kya, didn’t dream about her at night, at least once. She missed her terribly.

Though it hurt losing a parent, Katara couldn’t imagine the pain of losing a child. Parents raise their children from birth, teach them. Children are taught to be independent, how to fend for themselves. Taught how to not need their parents because one day, they’d lose them. That’s how it was supposed to go. And as much as it sucked, it was the truth. But it’s better than the latter. A mother and father should never face the pain of losing their son, their daughter, their baby. It had to be the worst pain anyone ever felt. Unfathomable to Katara. Poor Iroh had gone through it.

When Katara knocked on General Iroh’s door, at exactly 12:00pm, she was happy to be greeted with his always beaming face. Since Iroh was almost always smiling, it didn’t give much away about his family problem from yesterday. Katara just hoped whatever it was, it wasn’t too bad.

“Ah, Miss Katara!” Iroh gestured for Katara to come into his office. He closed the door behind her once she did. “What’ll it be today? Jasmine, ginseng, lychee...?”

“I’ll have jasmine tea today, General.” Katara smiled at him before taking a seat in front of the small coffee table.

Iroh shook his head with a smile on his face. “Uncle,” he corrected her. Iroh then walked to other side of his office to start brewing Katara’s tea.

It was weird, Katara thought. This jolly old man was related to Fire Lord Ozai? He was his brother? Katara would’ve never guessed it. She didn’t personally know Ozai, she’d never even met than man, never even seen him in person. But she knew he was evil. Ozai was so... different from Iroh. Although years ago, when he was the Crown Prince to the Fire Nation, he tried to conquer Ba Sing Se, Katara just knew the old man wouldn’t hurt a fly nowadays. He was too sweet, too happy. It was hard to believe he was Fire Nation, hard to believe he ever tried to bust through the walls of Ba Sing Se. It was hard to believe he had the same blood as Sozin, who started the war, Azulon, who ruthlessly continued the war, and Ozai, who would stop at nothing to end the war as supreme ruler of the world. It was hard to believe General Iroh was the famous Dragon of the West. Given Katara hadn’t met him while he was a prince, she just knew who as who he was now: a chubby, tea loving, Pai Sho obsessed, jolly, old man. But the stories she heard of the great General Iroh in history class just didn’t sound like him.

Katara wondered what would’ve happened if Iroh would’ve been crowned Fire Lord when Azulon passed. If Iroh wouldn’t have lost Lu Ten and taken control of the great Earth Kingdom capitol. For a minute, she thought Iroh would’ve ended the war. Maybe she wouldn’t have lost her mother. But then she remembered Iroh had decided to change his destiny after the passing of his son. As tragic as it was, Lu Ten’s death changed Iroh for the better.

She wondered how Fire Lord Ozai was crowned, anyway. Iroh was older than him, heir to the throne. He should’ve been Fire Lord— whether he ended the war and brought peace to the Nations or not. But Ozai was crowned instead and no one knew why, except the royal family, of course. Her history class conveniently skipped over that. Iroh never mentioned it and she didn’t ask. Once again, she figured it was none of her business.

Iroh set a cup of jasmine tea in front of Katara and sat across from her. He, obviously, had a cup himself. He took a sip before smiling at her again. “I am so happy today, Miss Katara.”

She smiled back. She was glad, she really was. “May I ask why, General?”

“If you don’t stop calling me that,” Iroh said, “I will stop inviting you for tea.” But Katara knew he was joking from the smile on his face. “My nephew will be enrolling here! I found out yesterday!”

Prince Zuko? What would the crown prince of the Fire Nation be doing at school? Surely Ozai wanted a better education for his son.

“It is not my business to share why,” Iroh continued. “Though I am not happy about his circumstances, I am happy I get to see my nephew everyday now.”

“That’s great to hear, General Iroh,” Katara replied. “Was that the emergency yesterday?”

“Yes, I had to get my nephew from the Palace and bring him here.” Iroh frowned as he continued explain, “Prince Zuko refused to join us for tea today. I was hoping the two of you could become friends.” Katara offered Iroh a small smile. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but she thought it’d be weird to befriend the prince of the Fire Nation. “You two have similar... traumas. And though fire and water do not mix, opposites do attract, Miss Katara. I think we’ve proven as much.” He gestured between them.

Katara had heard stories about Prince Zuko growing up from Iroh. Though she didn’t know what past traumas he could be talking about. She knew Zuko’s mother wasn’t in the picture but she didn’t know. Surely, if Lady Ursa had passed it would’ve been known. Maybe that’s what Iroh had meant. But other than that, Katara had absolutely nothing in common with the Fire Prince. Katara grew up on a block of ice, he grew up in a palace with servants at his beck and call. Katara’s home and family was destroyed because of the Fire Nation, he lived in it’s capital and was the son of the man that let Katara’s tribe fall.

“My nephew is a good man,” Iroh said, as if reading her thoughts. “You should not judge him too harshly for what his father has done.”

“Of course, General,” Katara replied with a smile. Iroh was right, as always. Prince Zuko could turn out to be a decent guy, after all. “I’d love to meet him.”

“Prince Zuko needs a friend like you, Miss Katara,” Iroh mused. “You will be good for my nephew.”

* * *

After tea with General Iroh, Katara made her way back to her dorm to wake Toph up and see if she wanted to get a late lunch before today’s meeting. Toph growled at Katara, grumbling something along the lines of “fuck off, Sugar Queen, the meeting isn’t for hours” before rolling over to face away from Katara. Within seconds, she heard snoring.

“Actually, Toph,” Katara said, shaking the earth bender’s shoulder. “It’s 2:00pm. We only have an hour.”

“What the hell?” Toph groaned, sitting up in her bed. “Since when?”

Katara rolled her eyes, “Since about two minutes ago.”

“Smart ass,” Toph said. “Alright, let’s go eat.”

“Aren’t you going to shower?” Katara didn’t want to mention it but Toph didn’t smell too great.

“Don’t you know me at all, Sweetness?” Toph rolled her eyes and jumped off her bed. She spit in her hands and smoothed down her hair. Toph wasn’t exactly a girly girl. She never had been. It’d taken a while for Katara to accept the fact that she simply never will be. Toph carefully made her way to their shared closest, and pulled out a green shirt and blue jeans from her side. “Does this match?”

“Yep.” Toph grinned before stripping out of her pajamas to change into her clothes. “Toph!” Katara grimaced before averting her eyes.

“What?! You change in front of me!” Katara waited a few moments before turning her attention back to her friend, who was now fully dressed, with her shirt on backwards. When Katara laughed, Toph asked, “Is my shirt on backwards?” She rolled her eyes before quickly turning her shirt the correct way, without taking it off this time.

“It’s different and you know it,” Katara said, replying to what Toph had said earlier. “How do you even know when I’m changing?” She didn’t answer, just smiled before grabbing Katara’s hand. They headed out of the dorm and to the cafeteria together.

The cafeteria was empty besides Katara and Toph and a few guards. “Where is everybody?” Toph asked.

“It’s 2:15 on a Saturday.” Katara shook her head; sometimes Toph just didn’t use common sense. “No body eats at 2:15 on a Saturday.”

“Whatever.” Toph rolled her eyes.

The cafeteria was set up with three separate places students could order food from. Food from the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Water Tribes. Although it was authentic, the Water Tribe food made Katara feel a little closer to home. Today Katara opted for some fish, seaweed noodles and an ocean kumquat. Toph got some roasted duck and rice.

They ate in a comfortable silence before heading out to go to meet their friends on the tournament field. It was the only place they could meet; everywhere else had cameras and were crawling with guards, not to mention the issue with boys not being allowed in girl dorms and vise versa. The tournament field only had one guard at all times but he was old; Katara suspected that he thought her and her friends weren’t actually up to anything because he never tried to listen in on their conversations or stop the meetings from happening.

Katara didn’t have many people on her side, much to her dismay. But so many students were terrified of the Fire Nation. The others were loyal Fire Nation blood. You didn’t know who you could trust. So far the group consisted of: Katara (water bender), Maki (water bender), Uki (water bender), Tarik (water bender), Haru (earth bender), Toph (earth bender), Bingwen (earth bender) and Mushi (earthbener). Lately they’ve been trying to think of ways to recruit fire benders. But Katara knew that was risky. Most fire benders were 100% loyal to the Fire Nation. Luckily for them, Kuzon was a fire bender and he didn’t seem to be loyal to the Fire Lord.

Maki was just like Katara. She was strong and cared deeply about her friends. Her views were the same as Katara’s, for the most part. If Maki suggested something, Katara almost always agreed and if Katara suggested something, Maki almost always agreed. There were times where Maki would suggest something that Katara was about to suggest. Katara thought it was just because both of them were raises in Water Tribes, though Maki was from the North.

Uki was Maki’s sister. She wasn’t like Katara and Maki, though, but Katara knew it was just because Uki was scared. Katara didn’t blame her. Uki was shy and quiet. She rarely pitched ideas and had followed her sister into the group. Katara didn’t mind, though, because she needed all the help she could get to take down Ozai. On the bright side, Uki was an exceptional water bender. She was a great addition to the rebellion in that sense.

Tarik was Maki’s boyfriend and he was just like Sokka, or what Kara remembered about her brother. He made sarcastic comments and was joking around most of the time but always knew when it was time to be serious. He was good with coming up with plans and strategies. Overall, Tarik was an amazing warrior and he would be whether he was a water bender or not. He was distinguished in hand to hand combat and wasn’t too bad with a sword, either.

Bingwen was just... goofy. He didn’t have a serious bone in his body. He didn’t know when to stop joking, which resulted in Katara’s anger most of the time. And, of course, he would just laugh and make jokes about how “easily” Katara gets mad. Sometimes Katara worried he wouldn’t even take the final battle seriously. Watching Bingwen bend reassured he every time, though. One year in the Tournament, he had almost taken down Toph. Almost. If he wasn’t such a powerful bender, Katara surely would’ve kicked him out of the group a while ago. Well, that and the obvious betrayed he could post if she did.

And Mushi took on a more serious aspect of life; he never laughed. Like Katara, when Bingwen made a joke, he’d roll his eyes. Mushi was probably the weakest link. He wasn’t a great bender, his combat skills were mediocre and he couldn’t fight with a sword or knife to save his life. Although he had improved greatly since he joined the rebellion, he still wasn’t where Katara wanted him to be but with Tarik and Toph’s help to train him, he should get to where he needed to be soon. Although he wasn’t a great warrior, he was the smartest in the group. When the time came, he would do an exceptional job helping Tarik with the battle plans to take down the Fire Lord.

Once they reached the tournament field, Katara smiled at the guard before taking their usual spot on the bleachers. Katara checked her watch, they were five minutes earlier. Her friends should show up soon. And they did; first Maki and Uki arrived together, like they always did. Tarik shortly followed and pressed a kiss to Maki’s cheek. Mushi showed up at exactly 3:00pm. Katara chewed the inside of her cheek. She was used to Bingwen being a few minutes late, but never Haru.

So when Bingwen showed up before Haru, Katara started to worry. “Where’s Haru?”

Everyone shrugged. “Maybe he’s just running a little late,” Maki said.

Fifteen minutes passed and Katara was about to send one of the boys to go find him when Haru finally made his appearance. But he wasn’t alone. He’d brought Kuzon along and Katara had to stop herself from slamming her forehead into her hand.

“I’m sorry for being late.” Haru smiled at Katara before explaining, “Kuzon ended up being my roommate— crazy, right? Anyway, we talked a lot last night and I know we can trust him.” Haru was still staring at Katara, silently pleading her to forgive him.

“Okay,” Katara grumbled, averting her eyes to glance at Toph, who was grinning.

Haru and Kuzon sat down, “Everyone, this is Kuzon. Kuzon this is Maki, Uki, Tarik, Bingwen and Mushi. You already met Katara and Toph.” As Haru said their names, they smiled and waved at Kuzon. “Kuzon is a fire bender but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to think of ways to recruit more fire benders. We won’t defeat the Fire Lord with just nine of us.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Tarik said. “Great to meet you, Kuzon.” He stuck out a hand and Kuzon shook it.

“Fire bender, eh?” Bingwen grinned. “You gonna cook our meals for us when we’re looking for non benders to help us?”

Katara rolled her eyes as Bingwen chuckled. Sometimes he said things that he thought was funny when no one else did. It didn’t stop him from laughing, though.

“I guess I could start the fire,” Kuzon replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“How much did you tell him?” Mushi asked, looking at Haru.

“Pretty much everything,” Haru answered. “Tell them what you told me. About the South Pole and Kyoshi.” Katara’s heart dropped when she heard Haru say South Pole. She hoped everything was okay.

Kuzon’s cheeks turned pink. He probably didn’t like being put on the spot. “Right, well...” Kuzon’s voice was tight, he was obviously uncomfortable. “So, before I came here, I sort of ran away from home—“

“Alright!” Toph exclaimed, holding up her hand toward Kuzon for a high five. “Join the club, man!” Kuzon ignored her offer for the high five, and Toph’s hand dropped. “Sorry.”

“Yeah...” Kuzon looked down, not meeting anyones eyes. “Well, I kind of just traveled for a while. I ended up in Kyoshi Island and I met these amazing women. They called themselves the Kyoshi Warriors. Their leader, Suki, quickly befriended me. I think they’d make a great addition to help defeat Ozai.”

Everyone waited patiently for Kuzon to continue. He was biting his lip and looking around the group nervously. Katara gritted her teeth. “And the South Pole?” It had came out angrier than Katara had meant it and Kuzon flinched.

“Oh... Right...” Kuzon blushed again. “I met this guy in the South Pole. To my understanding he _hates_ Ozai. He had a boomerang... I think his name was Sokka—“

That’s when Katara’s heart stopped beating and she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. She let out a small gasp, which caused everyone to glance in her direction. She hadn’t told anyone about her brother except for Haru and Toph. And... Haru knew and was letting Kuzon sit there and talk about Katara’s brother? The one that didn’t save her? The one that didn’t bat an eye when their father was willingly handing her over to the Fire Nation?

“—he was an awesome warrior. If he got over his self hatred I think he’d help out a lot.” Kuzon finished before glancing around nervously again.

“Self... hatred?” Katara asked. She looked over at Haru, who was watching her intently with sad eyes. She’d have to yell at him later. Toph rested a hand on Katara’s back.

“He had a sister,” Kuzon explained. Of course Katara knew that. It was her. “He said something happened a while ago and he should’ve stopped it. He wanted to stop it but he couldn’t.”

Sokka had wanted to help her? It sounded like he regretted it from what Kuzon was saying. Katara would be lying if she said she didn’t miss her brother and want to see him. A big part of her yearned about reuniting with her brother; had dreamed about it just as much as she dreamed about her father. Did Hakoda regret sending her away?

“Was Hakoda at the South Pole?” Katara asked, her voice barely a whisper. Toph patted Katara’s back, trying to comfort her as best as she could.

“No,” Kuzon replied. “Sokka said he had left soon after sending away his daughter.”

Katara guessed she would never know if her father regretted it or not. She wished she could say that it didn’t matter but it did. As much as she wanted to forget about Hakoda, as much as she wanted to hate him for what he did, she just... couldn’t. He was her father, her blood. He’d raised and loved her for eight years and that’s not something Katara could brush aside.

“I see.” Katara adjusted her position, causing Toph’s hand to fall off of her back. “So, Kyoshi Warriors and Sokka... what about more fire benders?”

“You got me there.” Kuzon frowned.

“You don’t have any fire bending friends?” Maki asked.

“I just got here yesterday,” Kuzon said to defend himself. “I didn’t have many friends growing up and I ran away from home, remember?”

“Hmm.” Maki put her chin in her hands, elbows resting on her knees. “Sorry.”

“Did anyone else hear that Prince Zuko was going to start coming here?” Uki asked. “I heard a few kids mention something this morning at breakfast.”

Maki rolled her eyes, “I already told you, Uki. That’s most likely not true.”

Uki frowned and opened her mouth to protest, but Mushi spoke up, “What would the Fire Prince be doing here? And even if he is here, what does that have to do with anything?”

Tarik patted Uki on the back and said, “Maybe he’d join us.” Maki glared at Tarik, mad that he wasn’t taking her side. “Imagine the look on Ozai’s face if his own son fought against him.”

Bingwen let out a laugh, “Yeah, good luck with that.”

Silence fell over the group for a few minutes. Katara contemplated whether or not to inform them that Uki was, indeed, correct. Prince Zuko was coming to the school, confirmed by General Iroh. But Katara highly doubted Zuko would be willing to defy his own father. Not everyone turned own their family without a second thought.

“No,” Katara said. “Uki is right. I had tea with General Iroh this morning and he told me himself.”

“That’s awesome!” Toph practically jumped out of her seat. “Serves him right! I mean... I don’t know what he did. But it’s pretty funny that he has to come here.”

“Hell, yeah it is!” Bingwen jumped up, just like Toph had. He held his hand up in the air and when Toph went to high five him, she missed by a centimeter. That caused Bingwen to laugh so hard he nearly fell over. Mushi rolled his eyes, grabbed Bingwen’s shirt and yanked him down to sit.

“I know it’s long shot,” Haru said, “but it wouldn’t hurt to try and come up with ways to get Prince Zuko to join us.”

“I think,” Mushi sighed, “that it’s pointless. But don’t mind me, go ahead. Make pointless plans.”

Katara gritted her teeth. Sometimes she wished Mushi wouldn’t talk. He was right, Katara thought, but he didn’t have to be rude about it.

“Hey, man,” Tarik snapped, “don’t be so quick to dismiss it.” Katara smiled at Tarik, silently thanking him. He offered a smile back before saying, “As always, we are open to any and all ideas.”

“Hear me out on this.” Toph was grinning, an evil glint in her unseeing eyes. Katara did not like this look on Toph, it usually ended bad on her end. “You all know how Katara has tea with Pops almost every week?”

“It’s not every week!” Katara protested but everyone else nodded. Toph rolled her eyes at Katara.

“I’m sure Iroh can help us with this without even knowing,” Toph continued. “He can talk Katara up to Zuko, you know.” Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate. She stayed silent, grin still present on her face. “What? Is there something wrong with my hair?”

“Help us with what, exactly?” Tarik asked.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Toph mumbled, blushing. “Katara should befriend Zuko, you know. Sorry to out you guys, but every guy Katara is friends with falls in love with her at one point or another—“

“That’s not true!” Katara smacked Toph’s arm.

“It is!” Toph growled, smacking Katara rught back. “Look at their faces!” All the boys, except Kuzon, were blushing. Maki was glaring at Tarik. “I’m sure eventually Zuko will be the same. It’s literally inevitable. Everyone likes you, Katara. Even if you are annoying at hell, you get under people’s skin.”

“Thanks,” Katara grumbled.

“Anyway,” Toph continued, ignoring Katara, “General Iroh never shuts up, Zuko probably already knows about Katara. And it’s not like he’ll stop talking about her if she continues to have tea with him.”

“How will that get the Fire Prince on our side?” Mushi asked.

“He’ll be so in love with Katara that he won’t want to fight against her,” Toph replied, as if it was obvious.

“I think that’s easier said than done,” Bingwen piped in. “If Zuko really believes in his father, he won’t care how he feels about Katara.”

“Do I get a say in?” Katara fumed. She absolutely did not want to go through with Toph’s ridiculous idea. Just because the boys blushed doesn’t mean what Toph said was true, right? Tarik was in love with Maki, after all. Katara wasn’t that appealing. Even if her friends had crushes on her at one point, doesn’t mean that Zuko would develop a crush on her. And what if he did? It wouldn’t be fair of her to abuse someone’s feelings for her like that. She didn’t want to manipulate someone into fighting with her. Not to mention Zuko was Fire Nation. He was the Fire Lord’s son. She couldn’t be romantically involved with someone who’s nation aided in taking her mother from her, whether it was fake or not.

“No,” Toph said. Katara threw her a pointless glare. “if anyone else has any ideas, be my quest.” She leaned back, waiting patiently for someone else to speak.

“Logically, it could work work,” Mushi agreed. Katara gasped. Just five minutes ago Mushi had shot the idea down, saying it would never work. What made him change his mind? “But there’s really no telling if Prince Zuko would actually fight against his father.”

“Wait, does anyone remember four years ago when we heard about that Agni Kai?” Uki asked.

Maki scowled at her younger sister. “Is all you care about rumors?” Uki’s face fell and she lowered her head. Katara knew that Maki loved Uki but sometimes she could be a little mean to her. Just like Sokka used to be mean to Katara. She knew it was just a sibling thing.

“No, she’s right.” Tarik glared at Maki. Leave it to him to defend his girlfriend’s younger sister. “Zuko had to fight his father. Ozai burned half his face.”

“I remember that!” Bingwen exclaimed. “I heard he was almost banished! I wonder what he did to get his father to send him here.”

“Exactly.” Toph smirked. “I can guess there’s already some resentment the Prince feels to his father. It should only make it easier on our part.”

“I don’t think this is a great idea,” Haru said. Katara smiled at him; at least someone was on her side. He smiled back, his cheeks turning a light pink. “Who’s to say Zuko would want to be her friend?” He hesitated, “Fall in love with her?”

“We don’t know it for sure,” Toph answered, rolling her eyes, “but I think it’s worth a shot.”

“So,” Maki glanced at Katara as she continued, “Katara tries to befriend Zuko, he may or may not develop a crush, and if he does, then what? Just hit him with ‘Hey, wanna join up with a group of people that’s trying to kill your father?’”

“Maybe not exactly like that,” Toph agreed, “but that’s the general idea.”

“It could work.” Tarik smiled as he wrapped his arm around Maki. “I’d do anything for Maki, even if it meant going against my father.” Maki blushed before smiling and pecking Tarik on the mouth, which earned a “gross” from Uki.

“Whatever,” Haru grumbled under his breath. “I personally don’t think it’ll work.”

“No one asked you.” Toph stuck her tongue out in Haru’s direction. “This is all we have for right now.”

Katara ran her hands through her hair. She knew arguing with Toph was pointless. She was an earth bender through and through; stubborn as a rock. She had a one track mind and wouldn’t give up on her thoughts for anything. The sooner Haru realized it, the better.

“It’s fine, Haru.” Katara clenched her jaw but tried to not let the anger she felt show. “She won’t change her mind, we’ll be here all day arguing with her. You know this.”

“It’s still stupid,” Haru countered. “It won’t work.”

“You don’t know that!” Toph yelled. She turned to Kuzon, who had been quiet since the mention of the Kyoshi Warriors and Katara’s brother. “What do you think, Twinkletoes?”

“I guess that it could work,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thank you!” Toph grinned at Kuzon. She then turned to Haru and shot him a look that said “I told you so.”

“So, we’re doing this?” Katara grumbled. “We’re actually doing this?”

“It’s all we have for now,” Toph answered. “The sooner we get a couple fire benders, the sooner we can leave this shit show and take down Ozai.”

Katara couldn’t argue with that. She didn’t know what they were going to do as soon as they got some fire benders to join them; mainly because they didn’t want to make plans on something that had the possibility of not happening at all. But now they had Kuzon and a plan to recruit the crown prince of the Fire Nation. Whether it would work or not, Katara didn’t know. Like Toph said, it’s all they had for right now. And Katara wouldn’t be Katara if she didn’t hang on to the smallest bit of hope that it would work.

“After we get Zuko,” Toph said, pausing to grin at her friends, “we talk about busting out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you for the kudos and comments Please don’t be afraid to let me know what you think :)


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara bumps into Zuko. The rebels have an emergency meeting. Hama shows Katara a technique that could help take down Ozai.

Katara didn’t know what to do. It had been a few days since the last rebel meeting; it was now Wednesday. She hadn’t seen Zuko at all. How was she supposed to become his friend if he didn’t actually show up to his classes? Didn’t go to lunch? If she couldn’t become his friend, how was she supposed to “seduce” him? Get him on her side? Toph was getting irritable— obviously upset that her plan hadn’t gone underway yet. Or maybe it was because she had to suffer through school and the Fire Prince was seemingly getting away with not going to school. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Toph.

Unfortunately, Toph’s mood also soured Katara’s mood. There was only so much of Toph’s snide comments Katara could take. Katara’s mood soured everyone else’s mood. The only one who seemed to be in good spirits was Bingwen. Though, he just made everyone else angrier by making jokes no body else thought was funny. 

Kuzon still seemed uncomfortable around Katara and her friends. The more time he spent with them, the more Katara thought that there was no way this kid was a fire bender. Yesterday she had asked him if he was sure he was a fire bender. Kuzon had blushed, held his hand up to produce a small flame and stuttered out a quiet “See? Fire bender.” Katara still wasn’t convinced.

Katara gritted her teeth as she contemplated whether or not to enlist the help of General Iroh. Surely he could get Zuko to join them for tea sometime soon. Katara didn’t know how she’d go about bringing that up to the General. She knew that Iroh would be elated to plan something; he wanted Zuko and Katara to be friends after all. But she’d always been uneasy when Iroh brought up the friendship. How would Iroh react if Katara had a sudden interest in his nephew?

A wave of water hit Katara in the stomach, nearly knocking her over. “Focus, Katara!”

Katara growled unintentionally as she bent a wave to throw at Master Hama. Hama easily froze the water before it slammed into her. Katara unfroze it but made no attempt to hit Hama with another wave. She summoned a water whip and hurled it towards the older woman. The water wrapped around her wrist and Katara yanked the woman down. She bent another whip to grab Hama’s other arm but the sound of a bell interrupted her. She reluctantly let Hama go. 

Katara bowed. “I’m sorry, Sifu Hama.” 

“When you are fighting, Miss Katara,” Hama said, “you can’t get so distracted. It could be a matter of life or death.”

“I know,” Katara said. “I was just thinking.”

“There’s a full moon tonight,” Hama mumbled. She’d said it was quietly Katara wasn’t sure if she was talking to her or not but Hama was staring into her eyes.

Katara smiled lightly at her, “Yes.”

Hama came closer to Katara, she put a hand on her shoulder before leaning closer to whisper in her ear. “If you want to take down the Fire Lord,” Hama whispered, her breath tickling Katara’s ear, “meet me tonight. I will send a guard to escort you. I have a strategy that will be useful for you.”

Katara gasped. She’d never been so taken back in her life. Questions swam in her head at a million miles a minute. Hama wasn’t loyal to Ozai? Hama knew how to take him down? Hama knew Katara was a rebel? Did the guards know? Hama wanted to help her? What was the strategy? Won’t Hama get caught? Won’t she get killed? 

“W-why now?” Katara asked, still horrified. 

“You were’t ready, then,” Hama replied. “You can only do this under a full moon.”

“What are you going to teach me?”

Hama didn’t answer her question. She smirked, an evil glint in her eye. “You’ll see tonight, Katara. Off to lunch you go.”

Katara’s heart was bounding, she could hear blood in her ears as she walked away, making her way back inside the school and to the cafeteria.

* * *

“What’s wrong with you, Sugar Queen?” Toph asked. Katara groaned. She glanced around her table. All of her friends were looking at her with concern. When she met Haru’s eyes, he smiled. She looked away back to Toph. “Seriously, Katara, your heart hasn’t stopped pounding since we sat down. Did you meet Zuko?”

“No,” Katara said immediately. “We need to have an emergency meeting today.”

“Can we know what about?” Mushi asked. He poked the fish on his plate with his fork. 

“I’ll tell you at the meeting,” Katara answered. She looked down at her own food. The stewed sea prunes remained untouched. There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She didn’t like the look Hama had given her. She didn’t like how Hama knew she was trying to down Ozai down. Who else knew? Was there a traitor in her group?

Katara didn’t feel well. She didn’t think she could make it through the rest of the school day. She didn’t think she could meet Hama tonight. She would talk to her friends after school today and do what they thought was best. 

“I’m gonna go see the healer,” Katara stated, clutching her stomach. “Let’s meet at 5:00?”

Her friends nodded, so she made her way to the trash can. She tossed the uneaten sea prunes and walked out of the cafeteria. As she walked through the halls, Katara kept her head down. As much as she wanted to just retire to her dorm and lay down, she knew she had to get an excuse from the school healer first. 

Katara couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. Whatever Hama wanted to show her couldn’t be good news; Katara knew that from Hama’s eyes. Katara had been as secret as can be about her rebellion. The group had been going strong for years now and no one suspected a thing— or at least they pretended not to suspect anything. Katara brushed that off. That would be ridiculous. If she was a suspect of treason, she and all of her friends would be killed without questioning. But still... How did Hama know?

Katara slammed into something hard. She thought, for just a second, it was a wall before a hand came up on her waste. She blushed, raising her head to see the person she’d run into. The boy had dark, messy hair that fell in his face. Her eyes met dark, golden eyes against pale skin. Well, one side was pale skin. The left side had a horrible, ugly scar covering what Katara guessed used to be beautiful, pale skin. Wait, scar... She gasped, “Prince Zuko.”

“Hardly,” he scoffed. His eyes were angry. No wonder, if this hadn’t been Katara’s fault, she’d be mad too. Katara raised an eyebrow at him, silently questioning what he’d meant. “I’m here, aren’t I?” He gestured around them with the hand that wasn’t holding on to Katara. Her side burned. “Not exactly royalty. Just watch where you’re going, yeah?” His eyes softened a little and he removed his hand from Katara’s waist. He started to walk past her, but Katara grabbed his wrist without thinking about it. 

“Wait,” Katara said. Zuko turned to meet her eyes again. “I know your uncle; he’s my friend. He may have mentioned me. I’m Katara.”

“Katara,” Zuko replied, his voice soft. “He doesn’t shut up about you.”

“We have tea on Saturdays.” Katara smiled involuntarily. It made her happy to know Iroh liked her enough to tell his beloved nephew about her. Toph had been right about that. “Maybe you should join us?” She tried to morph her smile into a more flirtatious one but she probably looked ridiculous.

“Tea is just hot leaf juice.” Zuko rolled his eyes but a smile was playing at his lips. “Don’t tell Uncle I said that again. He’ll disown me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Katara told Zuko. She realized she was still holding his wrist. She dropped it. “Sorry.”

“Whatever.” The small tint of pink in his cheeks didn’t go unnoticed. “Just don’t slam into me again.”

“Got it.” Katara offered one more smile, batting her eyes slightly. This was awkward. She didn’t know how to flirt. 

“Yeah...” Zuko trailed off. He walked away, leaving her alone. 

Katara scowled herself. She would never be able to do this. She was too awkward, too shy and too inexperienced. It seemed that Zuko was just about as awkward as she was. Her mission wasn’t going to be easy but at least Zuko was cute. Right?

* * *

Thankfully, the healer excused Katara from the rest of her classes. Katara used the extra time to take a nap. She dreamed of her family. She dreamed of a time where there was no war. She played with Sokka and her mother lived. Her father loved her. In the dream, her Gran-Gran was still alive, as well. She was happy. 

She woke up to small hands shaking her. Katara rubbed her eyes before rolling over, “Five more minutes, mom.”

“Guess again, Sweetness. And no, you’re the one that called for an emergency meeting.”

Katara grunted, sitting up to glare at Toph. Katara knew she couldn’t see but giving the blind bender looks still made Katara feel better. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know!” Toph shouted, throwing her hands in the air. “Why don’t you ask someone that can see a clock?!”

“Oh, right,” Katara mumbled. She glanced at her watch. It was 4:47. “We have thirteen minutes.”

“Great, let’s go.” 

Katara got out of bed and slipped on her shoes. She had a feeling her friends would tell her that she should meet with Hama. She gritted her teeth as she walked down the halls with Toph. She also had to bring up her meeting with Zuko. Maybe her friends could give her advice on how exactly she could swoon him. 

“Seriously, Katara,” Toph said. She was surprised to hear Toph use her actual name. “What’s up?”

“You’ll hear at the meeting!” Katara grumbled. 

They walked outside together. The sun was still out, stinging Katara’s skin as they made their way to the bleachers. Maki, Uki and Tarik were already there. Katara and Toph sat down next to each other, like they always did. Soon Haru, Kuzon, Mushi and Bingwen showed up.

Once everyone sat down and turned their attention to Katara, she explained her interaction with Hama this morning. Katara looked around at everyone as she talked, studying their faces carefully. She was trying to if anyone was unsurprised by the information; if they were, they were surely a traitor. Katara suspected Kuzon. He was the only fire bender, after all. But why would Kuzon tell Hama about the rebellion? Why would anyone? What would she do? Everyone was shocked about it, though. So that didn’t give Katara any clues to if she had a traitor or not. 

“Well you have to go,” Maki said. “Whatever she teaches you, you could teach us.”

“Yes,” Mushi agreed. “She said you could take down the Fire Lord with this... strategy?”

Katara nodded. 

“You definitely have to go!” Toph exclaimed. “We need all the help we can get. I highly doubt it’ll be easy to find the Avatar. He’s been missing for a hundred years.”

“Okay, so I’ll meet Hama tonight. And,” Katara paused for a second, “I sort of ran into Zuko today. It was a little awkward. I can’t flirt,” she admitted.

Katara blushed as some of her friends laughed. Maki, the only one not laughing besides Kuzon, put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. “I think I can help with that,” she offered. 

“What?” Tarik shot at Maki. “Who are you flirting with?”

“You, dumbass,” Maki said, rolling her eyes. 

“Maybe you don’t even need to flirt,” Toph added. “You don’t flirt with Haru and he’s in love with you.”

“He is not!”

“I am not!”

Katara and Haru both blushed. Haru buried his head in his hands and Bingwen patted him on the back. “Toph, man, you can’t say stuff like that.”

Katara was surprised Bingwen was the one to say it. He usually would’ve laughed at his friends’ embarrassment and high fived Toph. 

“Why can’t I?” Toph protested. “It’s the truth!”

“Toph, how would you feel if someone told, I don’t know, Mushi that you liked him?” Tarik asked.

“I don’t like Mushi.”

“But what if you did?” Tarik pressed.

Toph paused for a second, pondering the question. “Okay, I guess I wouldn’t like that.”

“Exactly.” Tarik smirked. 

Katara glanced at Mushi. He was looking at Toph with curiosity. His body language said he was a little uncomfortable but he didn’t say anything to indicate it. 

“All of this is irrelevant,” Toph grumbled. “We came to talk about Katara meeting with Hama and seducing Zuko, not me.”

“Then, maybe,” Haru said, glaring, “don’t blurt out other people’s feelings and we won’t talk about yours.”

“Sorry.” Toph rolled her milky eyes.

“So, that’s all,” Haru snapped, still glaring at Toph. “Can I go?”

“Do whatever you want,” Toph shot back.

With that, Haru got up and left. He didn’t look at Katara as he stomped away. His reaction only proved to Katara that Haru had feelings for her in one way. Though, Katara didn’t think Haru was completely in love with her. Maybe it was just a crush. 

“Kuzon, will you go check on him?” Katara asked, softly. 

“Yeah,” Kuzon smiled, standing up, “of course.” He left, leaving the other seven benders by themselves. 

Silence fell over the group. You could cut the awkwardness that sat in the air with a knife. Katara shifted uncomfortably, trying to think of how to ease her nerves.

“Well,” Bingwen said, breaking the silence. There was a smile on his face. “That was awkward.”

“Shut up,” Maki replied. Tarik offered her a smile and patted her back.

“That wasn’t right, Toph,” Uki mumbled quietly, lowering her head to stare her feet. 

Katara couldn’t imagine how Haru was feeling. Sure, she’d thought some boys were cute. But they were in the middle of a war. They were in the middle of trying to take down a tyrant. She couldn’t let feelings get in the way of that. A boyfriend right now would not be logical, only a distraction; not that she was judging Tarik and Maki. They were happy together. Katara, personally, just didn’t want to think of anyone that way until the war was over. She gritted her teeth, remembering that it was her job to befriend Zuko and try to seduce him. That went against what Katara thought about a relationship right now, but at least it wasn’t built on feelings. Without feelings, Zuko couldn’t be a distraction, right?

“So, I’m going to see Hama tonight,” Katara explained. “Should we meet tomorrow instead of Saturday? I just feel like three meetings in one week would be a little much.”

“Yeah,” Toph agreed. “Let’s just meet tomorrow and you can tell us what Hama taught you. Then you can use Saturday to hang out with Zuko or something.”

“I’m rolling my eyes at you,” Katara told her. Toph stuck her tongue out. “Everybody okay with that?” All of her friends nodded. Katara smiled, “Maki, maybe we can hang out either tomorrow or the day after and you can teach me how to flirt with Zuko?”

Maki winked, a wicked grin spreading on her face, “Of course, Katara.”

Katara smiled back at her as she stood up. She wrapped an arm around her little sister and grabbed Tarik’s hand before the three of them left.

“Will one of you guys make sure Kuzon and Haru know we’re meeting tomorrow instead of Saturday?” Toph asked, facing towards Bingwen and Mushi. 

Mushi nodded, “Yes.”

“I can’t believe Maki needs to teach you how to flirt,” Bingwen said, laughing lightly. Katara glared at him, but before she could say or do anything Mushi smacked the back of his head. “Hey!”

“Thanks, Mushi.” Katara smiled at him. Mushi just nodded before standing up and dragging Bingwen away. 

“If Bingwen wasn’t so damn powerful,” Toph said, “I’d kill him.”

Katara laughed. Sometimes it seemed like Toph could read minds. 

* * *

When the guard came for Katara, it was a little past midnight. He’d accidentally woke Toph in the process. The poor man actually seemed scared of the tiny earth bender mouthing off to him about how she was trying to sleep. The guard escorted Katara through the halls, outside and then to the training field. Hama was waiting. Under the moonlight, her gray hair glinted. She smiled when she saw Katara, and nodded at the guard. He left without a word. 

It was a little chilly outside but it wasn’t something Katara wasn’t used to. Katara glanced around the field. It looked as it always did; large jagged rocks scattered here and there for the use of earth benders, a large lake in the middle for water benders. It was a little difficult to see with it being dark but Katara could tell there was no guards. It was just her and Hama. The moon was indeed full, shining brightly in the dark sky alongside the stars. 

“A water bender is at her most powerful under the full moon,” Hama said. “Can you feel it? Focus.”

Katara couldn’t feel anything; she never did during a full moon. She knew that the moon controlled the tides of the sea, which made sense why a water bender would be more power. The ocean and moon spirits were the ones Katara prayed to, after all.  Focus.  Katara took in a breath and let it out. She closed her eyes, thinking of the moon and water and her bending. It took a moment. But she could feel the moon, feel the slight tugging as if the moon were pulling her towards it like she was a wave crashing against the shore. She could feel her element. She knew how far away it was, exactly ten feet and six and a half inches away from her. She knew how deep the lake was, 30 feet.

Katara’s eyes snapped open to meet Hama’s. She had the same, evil glint. Hama flicked her wrist, but water didn’t move; instead, Katara’s body froze and she involuntarily walked face to face with Hama. For a brief second, Katara’s heart stopped beating. Hama dropped her hand. Katara’s heartbeat went back to normal as she gained control of her body. She took a step back. 

“What was that?” Katara demanded. “What are you going to show me?”

“This is a technique that only the most powerful of water benders can do, under the full moon,” Hama explained. “You see, a human is about sixty percent water. If you focus, you can take control of the water just as you take control of an ocean, of a lake.”

Katara stared at Hama, utterly horrified. Her heart was pounding. She contemplated running. She tried, but her body was frozen with fear. How long could she run from Hama, anyway? 

“If you want to put an end to his tyranny,” Hama said, “you must bend his blood. You must take control of his heart and stop it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please let me know what you think:)


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